Improvement in scroll-saws



UNITED STATES VPATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM A.. SVEET, OF SYRAC-USE, NEXV YORK.

IMPROVEMENT AIN scRoLL-sAws.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,075, dated J anuary 1862.

To 1t-ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. SWEET, of the city ot' Syracuse, county of Onondaga, and

State of New York, have invented certain new' able to overcome this difficulty by attaininggreat perfection in the mechanical arrangement by which the saw is propelled and supported 'and by securing the greatest possible delicacy in the vertical strain on the saw while in operation. It is necessary to run` scrollsaws with great rapidity, and I consequently find it necessary to make the attachment with the least possible weight. For sawing scrollwork in long pieces it'is frequently necessary that all connection of the upper end of the saw with the Hoor by any sort of frame-work should be avoided; also, for rapid working it is necessary that the sawdust should be instantly removed, in order that the eye of the operator may follow the lines with rapidity and accuracy.

Myimproved scroll-saw combines all of these necessary elem en ts in 011e machine, and which I will now Inore fully describe in the words and figures following, to wit:

I construct any convenient form of bracework from the ceiling overhead, by which I suspend the cylinder K directly over the table A. The said, cylinder l support-s and guidesvthe upper end otthe saw by a light head fitting loosely inside of the cylinder and attached to the upper end of the saw B. The upper end of the said cylinder is closed, eX- cept a small valve V, opening upward for the escape of any air that might pass the said head in its downward movement; but the said head is not intended to be so loose as to leak Inueh. if any. The lower end of the saw is supported in the mortise through the bed ot the table by the stay-piece, which is fitted snugly in the bed of the ta ble andcan be moved by a light stroke of ahammeron its outer end, so as to cause its opposite end to press against the back edge of the saw and afford it constant support in that direction, and thereby avoid the possibility of breaking the saw by the pressure ot the stuff being fed upto the saw with any reasonablespeed and force. The lower end of the saw is attached to a crosshead on the under side of the ltable, and to this cross-headis attached a pitman propelled in the usual manner.

On the side of the cylinder and near its lower end is a small valve YV, opening iniuto the lower end of the cylinder K.- The object of this arrangement is to admit air, to be forced down through the lower end of the cylinder to blow away the sawdust from the lilies on the work. l

'lfhe slide Il through the lower end of the head E forms the bottom ot' the cylinder K and also supports the saw B above the work and can be' adjusted so as to press lightly against the back of the saw and is heldin position by the set-sc`rew C.

The saw is supported immediately below the work by the slide-piece X., which is held in position by the gib 'l and set-screw Y. l

B is the saw, passing up thro-ugh the slidepiece X and through the slide Fand its upper end attached to the saw-head, which is composed of two circular pieces of leather L L, supported by three pieces ot` wood J J J. All of these live parts form one head and are held together by a `bolt passing up through them this bolt is made in the shape of a jaw, in which the upper end ot the saw is fastened.

During the .upward movement of the saw the valve V permits any air 'that may be in the cylinder over the saw-head to escape through the hole S S. lVhen the downward movement of the saw commences, a partial vacuum is instantly created between the'sawhead and upper end of the cylinder, which strains the saw perfectly. Itis necessary that the saw I3 should be kept perpendicular laterally to the table A, and to adjust its position in that direction the cylinder K is atwardly in to a small wind-chest D,which opens and a nut on the top, and the lower end of' .when necessary.

2 r i :time

tached to ils {rauw-work support by two arms, which are attached by set-screws 0 'lhese .set-screws pass through slots 0 0 in the said arms to permit the said lateral adjustment ot' the saw, andthe cylinder l\' is so attached at or near its center tot-he said arms byra setscrew Z as to admit ol` its being adjusted forward and back in sueh a manner as to increase or diminish the rake 0r out 0fthe saw, as may be desired. 'lhe attachments are also so arranged that they may be free to slide up and down, so that by its own weight its lower end will constantly rest upon the stuff being sawed and then form a yielding' holddown that will follow uneven surfaces. This is at tained by embracingr the cylinder with the rings Q Q, in one of: which is a slight groove in which the feather I on the side yolftlie cylinder slides, which prevent the cylinder from jarring,r around out ot' place.

.G isa ring,r around thecyliudcr, with a setserew, by which the cylinder while at any required height maybe kept from falling below it and atl the same time leftfree to rise higher- For illustration, suppose we wish te saw stuit of uneven thickness and the thinnest part 0f which isv one inch thick. XVe set 'the ring (i so as to drop the lower end olf the cylinderwto within about sevcn-eighths of an inch of the table. 'lhe cylinder could rise and 'l'all to the varying thickness of the stu, land lyits ownweight and the atmospheric pressure on its top the stnll is held down to the table.

Having thus-fully described my vimproveyments iu scroll-saws, what 1. claim as new,

and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1l. rlhe combination of the adjustable cyl'- inder K, the,valve, and wind-chest D, the valve V, thesaw head F, the saw B, andthe adjust-able slides 11 and X, substantially as and forv the purposes described.-

l 2. '.lhe loose cylinder K, when adjusted, sub-v stantially as specified, so as to form a yield Aingvhold down upon the stud both by its own weight and atmospheric pressure, forthe purl poses substantially as described.

3. Attaching the cylinder K bythe set-screwl '\,'v'itnesses:

ANDREW J. SMITH, M. G. llUnnARD.V 

